Sunday, March 1, 2015

(Drag the pictures to your tab bar to see them better. I had to take horizontal shots!)

I have decided I have a very eclectic sense of style when it comes to decorating... and family members feed into it oh so much!

While I was away at a children's musical rehearsal, my dad found this not-so-little beauty at Goodwill and decided that my bedroom needed it. It was certainly a pleasant surprise, and I put it up on my wall above my bed as soon as I got a free chance to do so. A painting of poppies was there before, and now I plan on hanging that in another place on my wall. It's so exciting for me to move things around in my room. I know it sounds silly, but it makes me quite happy.

School has been very stressful on me, even with organizing and scheduling. There is just SO MUCH. I bounce in and out of feeling motivated and productive to feeling completely overwhelmed and smothered, but I still plug on through all the work. I can't wait for summer -- it will be a very nice break! I'm not complaining wholeheartedly since I do adore the classes and am lucky to have the chance to study them... but good gracious! All this so fast?

On a side note, I have been meaning to share my current reading list with you all!

These are but a few of the books I have accumulated over the past three years, all of which are (wait for it.....) UNREAD.

I'm slowly working on changing that, though

For those who are infinitely curious, the list includes:

The Boleyn Inheritance -- Philippa Gregory

The Red Queen -- Philippa Gregory

The Queen's Fool -- Philippa Gregory

The Virgin's Lover -- Philippa Gregory

World Without End -- Ken Folleett

The Norton Anthology of: (completel sets)
English Literature
World Literature
American Literature

The Mists of Avalon -- Marion Zimmer Bradley

Her Fearful Symmetry -- Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveller's Wife -- Audrey Niffenegger

Pirate Latitudes -- Micheal Crichton

Selected poems of Seamus Heaney

A-Z Aromatherapy -- Patricia Davis

On Writing -- Stephen King

The Book of Virtues -- William J. Bennett

Game of Thrones -- George R.R. Martin

The True History of Tea -- Victor H. Mair and Erling Hoh

The Bedford Anthology of World Literature

The Doctor's Wife -- Elizabeth Brundage

The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

Wives and Daughters -- Elizabeth Gaskell

The Faerie Queene -- Edmund Sepnser

Robert Browning's Poems

Sherlock Holmes -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Shogun -- James Clavell

Les Miserables -- Victor Hugo

Dragon Rider -- Cornelia Funke

I have been on a Philippa Gregory run for some months now, so I shall start with all of her books first. I adore them ever so much. As I chew through this list, I shall keep you all updated and perhaps provide brief reviews of each book as I go!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Hello all! Sorry for the silence as of late -- taking five classes is rough! I can honestly say I don't have time to sit down and think anymore, all my time is taken up by homework. As a result, a lot of "me" things have been neglected (like a haircut!).

However, while classes have held me down under an iron boot, life has not ceased going on around me! All of our expecting does had their kids between the last weeks of January and now, and they are complete darlings! They are certainly called kids for a reason, and it is fun to see the strong difference between the boys and the girls as far as their behavior is concerned.

Having all the kids finally born is a relief to me, as the goat yards are toward my end of the house, resulting in me becoming the honorary "listen-for-the-screams-of-labor" girl. 6 am every morning I would get a text message from my mom at the other end of the house that said, "Goat screaming?" Sleepily I would squint at my phone and reply, "Rooster crowing." Then I'd get a "Thx" and be allowed to go back to sleep.

Now that the kids are here, one wold think I would be able to get some sleep. Not so. Two of our does (who were bottle fed by us when they were young) like to scream loudly for their food. They are fed almost three times a day, yet never fail to scream like they are starving in the wilderness. So, 7:30 am, screaming starts. Bye bye sleeping in, but I don't mind. They're the family animals, and I love them dearly... even if they do scream something fierce!

So now I get to sit and watch the kids run around like maniacs from the safety of my own window. It's a wonderful thing to see.

As far as anything else goes, like I said, I have absolutely no time. It's been getting me down a little because I don't even have time to sit and read for a while. I love my classes and love what I'm learning, but I think I may be ready for a break. A long break. Over the summer. It could be a mix of the dreary, cold weather mixing with a stressful workload, but it has been a few weeks of drudgery for me. I know I'll push through it, but in the mean time it's just not fun. I'm trying to tell myself it's all right to take a break and do nothing for a while, but when you have a workload staring at you, it's a bit tough to relax.

To update you all on my growing fondness for coffee: I think I may love it more than tea. I had to switch to decaff, though! Two cups of coffee in the morning gives me some gosh awful anxiety. ACK!

Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone! ♥
Stay warm out there (unless you're lucky enough to live in Florida or California)!

Greetings and Welcome!

Welcome to Forever-a-Dabbler, a journal of my adventures in crafts, nature, and life. Here I share photos of things that make my soul happy, crafts that keep my hands busy, and words that I hope bring joy to others. Please enjoy yourself, and do drop a note sometime. Have a blessed, joyful day! ♥

Who Am I?

Variety gives life flavor and fun. When I sit down at the table of hobbies, I relish the setting with dishes that are from every edge of this world. I'd much rather have too much of everything than too much of one. It is by this that I live.
Part-time college student, part-time artist, full-time sister, daughter, and writer. I dabble in whatever catches my fancy. How long that fancy lasts is really up to where I go with it, but that's the fun in dabbling; it makes the art of dabbling far sweeter.